Glasgow 2026 announces medal programme and return of 'Commonwealth Mile'

The organisers of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games have announced the medal event programme, with para sport, track cycling, and swimming set for the most extensive medal event programmes in the games’ history.

The multi-sport competition will take place across four venues in the city in July and August next year. Although the programme was scaled down when Glasgow stepped in as replacement hosts for Victoria, over 200 gold medals will be awarded.

The fully-integrated para sport programme across ten sports will see a record 47 gold medals awarded.

The Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome is set for a full programme of racing, as Glasgow hosts the biggest track cycling programme ever seen at a Commonwealth Games.

The Tollcross International Swimming Centre will host the most extensive swim programme in Commonwealth Games history, with 56 medal events in total across both para and non-para competitions. In a Games’ first, the men’s 800m Freestyle and women’s 1500m Freestyle races will be included.

In Scotstoun, the most eye-catching announcement is the return of the Commonwealth Mile event. Last run in 1966, the Mile race, which will be run on the track, is a nod to the ‘The Miracle Mile’ at the Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, Canada in 1954, when England’s Roger Bannister and Australian John Landy – the only two sub-four-minute runners in the world at the time – went head to head only two months after Bannister became the first athlete to run a sub-four minute mile.

It is also the first time in the Commonwealth Games history that para athletics will see athletes competing in jumping, throwing and track events, with all three disciplines being included on the programme for the first time.

“What makes the Commonwealth Games so special to so many is its fully integrated sport programme,” Glasgow 2026 chief executive Phil Batty said.

“I am proud that Glasgow 2026 will see the biggest para sport medal event programme in Games’ history and will play such an important role in growing, supporting and championing para sport.

“Glasgow 2026 is a bridge to the Commonwealth Games of tomorrow and we have a clear vision that it will be brilliantly different.

“The huge track cycling and swimming programmes, alongside the return of the Mile in athletics, a wealth of disciplines introduced to the Games for the first time across the para athletics, para track cycling and para swimming programmes, not to mention the increase in 3×3 Basketball and 3×3 Wheelchair Basketball teams, makes the Glasgow 2026 sporting programme a really exciting prospect for fans and athletes alike.

“I’m confident that with action-packed programmes across all four venues in the city, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Glasgow 2026 is set to be a world-class sporting celebration, filled with passion, fun, and outstanding sport.”

Glaswegian Olympic swimmer Katie Shanahan, who won two bronze medals at Birmingham 2022, said: “The announcement of the medal events is another great milestone in Glasgow delivering the Games next year.

“And for me, it really is a home Games. I learned to swim in Glasgow and spent many years with clubs in and around Glasgow, so competing for Scotland in a pool I know so well will be so exciting, and I really can’t wait for it.”

Scottish Paralympic and World champion C3 cyclist, Fin Graham, said: “I’m absolutely delighted to see such a strong cycling programme announced for Glasgow 2026, with greater para sport integration than ever before.

“On a personal level, to have my category and events included is unbelievable – ever since Glasgow 2014 I’ve wanted to ride at the Commonwealth Games, and hopefully next year I’ll get that chance. To do it in front of a Scottish crowd, on the velodrome where I learnt to ride the track, will be even more special.”